David Moyes pulled no punches in his assessment of West Ham United’s 3-2 Boxing Day defeat by Southampton.

The Hammers fell to a fourth defeat in seven Premier League matches with a strangely lacklustre display on a gloomy afternoon in east London, falling behind and getting back on level terms twice before losing to a set-piece goal.

The Irons went behind inside eight minutes to Mohammed Elyounoussi’s low shot and could not muster a response before the break.

Michail Antonio was introduced at half-time and took less than four minutes to score his first goal in nine Premier League matches when he nodded in from close-range.

However, Southampton went back in front through James Ward-Prowse after Kevin Friend awarded a controversial penalty after viewing the pitchside screen on VAR Craig Pawson’s recommendation, penalising Craig Dawson for a foul on Armando Broja when the initial contact appeared yards outside the penalty area.

West Ham levelled for a second time when Saïd Benrahma swept in Jarrod Bowen’s right-wing cross within three minutes, only for Ward-Prowse’s free-kick to be headed in by Jan Bednarek with 20 minutes to play and ultimately earn Southampton all three points.

To add further to the feeling of frustration, Moyes will also be without Declan Rice for Tuesday's trip to a Watford who have themselves not played since 10 December due to COVID issues.

"It was rubbish, rubbish from the start - not from start to finish because we were better in the second-half, but we were flat in the opening part of the game, for what reason I have no idea but we were," Moyes said.

"We didn't really get anything out of it, the amount of poor decisions and passes we made, we didn't press well, so lots of things didn't go as well as we'd have liked.

"I thought that once we got back level there would really only be one winner if we kept doing the right things.

"I thought for five minutes after our goals we did keep doing the right things, but then we gave away a horrendous second goal.

"Then we got back in it again and I was thinking there were still over 20 minutes and we'd have enough time to get a winner, then we go and give them another goal from a free-kick, so it was not a good day for us."